Hello World (OC story)
by GummyPeachFrogs
Summary: Five cats try to find their places in their clans.


The full moon shone over the frost covered ground, casting an eerie glow, which did nothing to quell Larchpaw's fears.

Holding back a shudder, he pressed close to his mentor, Fallowspring.

She nuzzled him.

"It's alright to be nervous, after all, this is your first gathering."

"I-I'm just cold," he lied, he was nervous! So nervous in fact, that it felt like his limbs were being frozen in place by the leaf-bare chill.

"Oh wow! You're big! You must be from ThunderClan!"

Larchpaw turned his head, to see a pale brown tom, with faint tabby markings on his face, staring up at him in awe.

"I'm not that big," Larchpaw shuffled his paws, "Graypaw's bigger than me, and so are a lot of other cats."

Who was this cat? And why was he talking to him? He wasn't from ThunderClan! Didn't he understand that it was a bad idea? That before long, they'd be fighting each other in battle?

"Everyone's bigger than me, even the kits!" the tom exclaimed, "I'm Crisppaw by the way, I'm from WindClan," he puffed out his chest proudly as he announced the clan he was from.

"Explains why you're a scrawny runt," Larchpaw muttered, hoping it'd seem mean enough to get the other cat to leave him alone.

Instead, he just mrrowed.

"So, is this your first gathering?"

"Yeah," Larchpaw sighed, wishing that it was over already.

"Mine too! Funny that, both of us meeting each other at our first gathering."

"Uh huh."

"Crisppaw! Come on!" a brown tom called.

"See you around!"

Larchpaw breathed out a sigh of relief when the WindClan apprentice left, glad that he wouldn't have to talk to him anymore.

That feeling didn't last long, before the loneliness set in, he didn't have many friends in ThunderClan, unless Fallowspring and his parents counted.

The other apprentices, Frondpaw, Graypaw, and Molepaw, were always spending time together, and they never seemed to have time for him.

_Probably because they're four moons older, and think I'm still a dumb kit. _

He glanced in the direction where the WindClan apprentice had raced off to, and the loneliness grew stronger. Here he had a chance to make a friend, and he'd blown it!

No! He growled firmly to himself, he couldn't make friends from other clans, that cat was probably just trying to manipulate him into spilling ThunderClan secrets.

_If I see him in battle, I'll shred his pelt! That'll teach him for trying to trick me. _

"Who are you!"

"What are you doing here?

"Go away!"

"It's a rogue, run!"

Larchpaw whipped his head to the source of the meows, and saw a cluster of cats gathering around.

"Explain yourself," a pale brown tabby hissed.

"Yes, why are you in our gathering spot?" demanded a mottled brown she-cat.

"What's going on there?" one of the leaders, a white tom, jumped off the gathering tree, and raced over to the crowd.

"There's a rogue here, Snowstar," the mottled brown she-cat growled, flicking her tail.

"Yes! She'll kill us all!" the brown tom, who had called Crisppaw away, yowled, Larchpaw looked around for the WindClan apprentice, but couldn't find him amongst the crowd of gathering cats.

_He's probably off annoying some other apprentice. _

Larchpaw turned his focus back to what was going on, and bristled, whoever this cat was, she must have been dangerous, he'd never met a rogue before, but he'd heard stories about them, cats who lived outside the warrior code, and killed without a second thought.

Soon, all the other leaders, deputies, and medicine cats were gathering around.

"She's just a little one, and she's all alone, I doubt she'll do us much harm," one of the deputies, a pale grey and cream tortoiseshell she-cat, meowed.

"I don't see why Meadowmist is here," Fallowspring muttered, seeming uninterested in the rogue, "It looks like she's about to kit any moment."

"Yeah," Larchpaw meowed, though he wasn't really focused on his mentor, or on Meadowmist, he was more interested in the rogue, and he wished that one of the cats would move aside, so he could see just how frightening she was.

"We should fight her, make her regret ever stepping paw on clan territory," a brown she-cat with white paws growled.

"No, there's a truce remember? We can't fight!" a black tom hissed.

"That's for clan cats only, this cat isn't a clan cat," the brown she-cat growled.

"How about instead of scaring the poor thing to death, we ask her what she's doing here, instead of making assumptions?" Meadowmist suggested.

"Oh shut up Meadowmist," the brown she-cat hissed, "You've grown soft ever since you started expecting kits."

"Just because I care about all kits, not just my own, doesn't mean that I've grown soft, the Warrior Code says that we must help any kit in danger, and this rogue is clearly a kit!"

The brown she-cat rolled her eyes.

"That pertains to clan cats, feather-brain."

"No Rabbitfoot, I'm pretty sure it means all kits, not just clan-born ones," the black tom meowed.

"What do you know about the code, Ratshade?" Rabbitfoot hissed, arching her back, "You're in ShadowClan!"

"Enough!" one of the medicine cats, a black and white she-cat, yowled. She glanced up at the sky, "Clouds have not covered the moon, so StarClan has no problems with this rogue here, I agree with Meadowmist, that we should ask her what she's doing here."

"But Hollyspots, what if the clouds aren't covering the sky, because StarClan agrees with Rabbitfoot, that she should be chased out?" a long furred dark brown tom meowed.

"Don't be mouse-brained, Otterpelt, ThunderClan's medicine cat, Birdseed, hissed, "If StarClan disapproved of her, they would have covered the moon as soon as she stepped paw onto the island."

"How about we take a vote?" one of the leaders, a tortoiseshell she-cat, suggested.

The other cats yowled their agreements, even Rabbitfoot.

"Okay," the tortoiseshell meowed, "Those in favor of making her leave, go stand by the tree-bridge."

Without hesitation, Rabbitfoot, the pale brown tabby tom, the scared brown tom, and Otterpelt walked over to the tree-bridge.

Walking beside Otterpelt, was a smaller white she-cat, with long fur, whom Larchpaw guessed was his apprentice.

Following them, was Wolfsnout and Molepaw.

Larchpaw glanced at his mentor, wondering if she would follow her mate and daughter, but she stayed where she was, with a hint of sadness in her amber eyes.

Coming up behind Wolfsnout and Molepaw, was the mottled brown she-cat, followed by two smaller white she-cats, one of them had long fur, she looked exactly like Otterpelt's apprentice, and Larchpaw wondered if they were littermates.

Why do I care? He thought angrily, they're in RiverClan!

"This is the longest gathering ever," a white and black tom muttered, as he too went and joined the cats who wanted to chase the rogue off.

"Right? I just want to go home," a brown tabby tom growled.

Larchpaw then felt a tail over his shoulder, and he turned his head to see his mother, Antfoot, beaming at him.

"I'm proud of you," she purred.

His father, Splinterclaw, nuzzled him, "As am I, we should always give cats a chance, no matter what their background is."

"That's a load fox-dung, outsiders bring nothing but trouble," Mottledwhisker growled, as he too went to go join the cats by the tree-bridge.

After what seemed like moons, everyone chose their sides, and the leaders, deputies, and medicine cats returned to their spots on the tree.

"It seems though there is a tie!" the tortoiseshell leader announced.

"So what are we going to do about that?" Snowstar growled.

"Let's ask StarClan, if they think we should chase her out, make clouds cover the moon!" Hollyspots exclaimed.

"That is a fantastic idea!" one of the deputies, a very small dark grey, almost black tom, with a flash of white on his face, meowed.

Everyone else meowed their agreements.

"Should we do it all at the same time?" Meadowmist asked.

The RiverClan leader nodded, and in unison, they asked StarClan to cover the moon, if they wanted the rogue chased out.

"StarClan has spoken! No clouds covered the sky!" Hollyspots exclaimed.

"Then it is settled," another one of the leaders, a grey tabby tom, sighed, "We must hear her out."

They then turned to the rogue, and Larchpaw watched as a silver tabby she-cat, with white paws, padded forward, her fur was plastered to her pelt, and she was trembling.

"She must have swam over here!" Meadowmist gasped, "Quick, someone go huddle with her before she freezes to death!"

The small tom snorted.

"You can't die from being too cold."

"What are you doing on clan territory?" Snowstar demanded.

"I-I came for help, my group," the she-cat choked on her words, "They were all killed, I have no one left."

"She's bring danger to our clan! I told you! I told you we were all in danger!" the brown tom exclaimed from his spot by the tree-bridge.

"Shut up Hareheart, this concerns the leaders, the deputies, and the medicine cats," the small deputy hissed.

"Well, he's not wrong, if whoever killed his cat's group, who's to say that she hasn't led them straight to us?" the pale brown tabby demanded.

"Well, if that is the case, then we'll band together to take them down," the tortoiseshell leader growled.

"Yes, can we go on with this now?" the grey tabby leader sighed, "WindClan has recently received three new litters of kits."

"WindClan isn't the only clan who has had new kits born, SkyClan also had two kits born to Yewflame and Flashfoot, a she-kit and a tom," the tortoiseshell she-cat meowed.

"All of WindClan's new kits were all born to Sunfeather," the grey tabby shook his head, "I don't know where he finds the time to-"

"Mousestar, Starlingstar, we have more important things to discuss right now than how many kits were born in your clans!" Snowstar hissed.

Mousestar indicated Meadowmist with a nod of his head.

"It looks like new kits will be in RiverClan any day now."

The RiverClan deputy beamed.

"I can't wait!"

"So, what are we to do about the rogue?" Hollyspots asked.

"We can't very well leave her alone to fend for herself, she's much too young, and you heard her she has no one left," Meadowmist meowed.

"Yes, but we must remember the trouble she might bring with her," Otterpelt's eyes darkened with worry, "Grassthorn could be right, she could have led them straight to us."

"Yes, but like I've said before, we will band together to take them down," Starlingstar meowed firmly.

"Well, it'll still get cats injured, or worse, killed, in the process, is one cat really worth that risk?" the SkyClan medicine cat, a ginger and brown she-cat, asked.

"We don't know that's going to happen, are we really going to leave a cat out here to die, over something that might not even happen?" Meadowmist hissed.

"But do we really want to take that chance?" the WindClan deputy asked, "My mother, Smokehaze, once told my littermates and I this story, about how this rogue and his group came to the forest, and nearly destroyed the clans."

Larchpaw shivered, and pressed close against his parents, he couldn't imagine what life would be like without the clans! How would they even live? Would they still be honorable cats?

"I heard the story of Darktail and his kin as well, don't forget, it's WindClan's fault he came in the first place," the ShadowClan leader meowed.

Mousestar flattened his ears, and bared his teeth.

"That's a lie and you know it!"

Larchpaw's heart thudded in his chest, was a fight going to break out?

"Settle down," Starlingstar hissed, "The past is in the past, we will never heal if we keep re-opening old wounds."

"But if we forget the past," Otterpelt meowed lowly, "Then it is bound to repeat itself."

"Can we convene on this tomorrow?" the WindClan deputy asked, widening his mouth in a yawn, "It's too cold, and too tired to deal with it."

"Cold? Well, it's a good thing a cats can't die from the cold, Streakface," Birdseed snorted.

"Streakface?" a cat behind Larchpaw meowed, "What a horrible name! I bet he can't wait until he becomes leader so he can change it."

He turned his head, to find the long furred white she-cat, who had went to stand by the tree-bridge, and next to her, was the short-furred white she-cat.

"Hi, I'm Pearlpaw and this is my sister Dovepaw," the short-furred she-cat flicked her tail to the other one, "We have another sister, her name is Cloverpaw, but she's a lame medicine cat, so she's always with Otterpelt."

"Medicine cats aren't lame, they heal the clan, and interpret signs from StarClan, where would the clans be without medicine cats?" Larchpaw protested.

Pearlpaw flicked her tail.

"Meh, they're such know-it-alls though, and they think they can do whatever they want, oh, I forgot to mention that I also have a brother, his name is Mudpaw, he didn't come to the gathering tonight, because he has whitecough."

"Do you have any littermates?" Dovepaw asked.

At her words, the loneliness crept into Larchpaw's chest again.

"No, I don't, and I'm not interested in making friends outside of ThunderClan, so just leave me alone!" he spat.

Pearlpaw rolled her eyes.

"Typical ThunderClan," she muttered.

"Yeah," Dovepaw sneered, "They always think they're too good to talk to cats from lesser clans."

_That's not true! _

Larchpaw fought the urge to defend himself, he didn't want to talk to these RiverClan cats any more than he had to, all he wanted to do, was go back to camp, and curl up in his warm nest.

As though she could read his thoughts, Hollyspots meowed.

"I think we should take the elders and apprentices back to camp, it's growing much too cold out here for them."

Mousestar dipped his head.

"That's a great idea Hollyspots," he gazed into the clearing,

"Rabbitfoot, you will escort the WindClan elders and apprentices back."

"No!" the brown she-cat protested, "I want to see what happens."

Streakface bared his teeth.

"Listen to your leader!"

"Hey, don't talk to my mate like that!" Grassthorn spat.

Once again, Larchpaw wondered if a fight would break out, and if he would even be awake enough to defend himself if he got caught in the skirmish.

"You can go too Grassthorn," Mousestar meowed.

The two cats padded away, growling stuff under their breaths that Larchpaw couldn't make out, but with how their tone was, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"That's a good idea to send two cats, in case the rogues are hiding out there somewhere," Otterpelt growled.

Snowstar nodded.

"Yes, Cloudyrose and Ripplefur, you two will go."

A white she-cat with ginger patches and a brown tom with swirling black stripes stepped forward.

"Frostpine and Vinedusk will go," the ShadowClan leader announced.

"Did you notice that they're only sending the cats who voted to chase the rogue off the island?" a slightly familiar voice whispered from beside Larchpaw.

Holding back a groan, he quickly cast a glance at the source of the voice...Crisppaw.

"Crisppaw!" Rabbitfoot meowed sharply, causing the pale brown tom to bristle, "Get over here right now!"

"I-I gotta go, see you around, I guess."

There was a hint of sadness in his meow, which tugged at Larchpaw's heart.

_No! He's from WindClan, we can never be friends! _

As much as he told himself that though, he couldn't stop the heavy feeling in his heart, at first, it was a dull ache, but now, it was almost suffocating.


End file.
